President Trump Caught Off-Guard By 'ASEAN-Way Handshake'

President Trump does the "ASEAN-way handshake" with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (left) and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on stage during the opening ceremony at the ASEAN Summit on Monday. Trump initially did the handshake incorrectly.

As handshake diplomacy goes, this time it might not be quite as awkward as it first appears for President Trump: In photos with Asian leaders at a summit in the Philippines, he is momentarily caught off-guard by what is called the 'ASEAN-way handshake' – crossed arms and joined arms meant to signify regional unity.

An Associated Press photographer captures the moment the president, with a pained grimace, joins hands on either side with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on one side and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte on the other at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Manila.

But, as with the story of Trump and the koi pond in Japan last week, the picture is more damning than the video. (And, to be sure, in the most recent footage from the Philippines, a bespectacled Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull also seems to struggle some with ASEAN-concept handshake).

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